AC Milan vs. Torino: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
AC Milan will look to continue to ride their wave of good form against a struggling Torino team on Saturday at the San Siro.
Date: Saturday, February 27
Time: 8:45 p.m. local time, 7:45 p.m. GMT, 2:45 p.m. EST
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Venue: San Siro, Milan
TV Info: BT Sport Europe (UK), beIN Sports (U.S.)
Live Stream: BT Sport Connect (UK), beIN Sports Connect (U.S.)
Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic's side is on a hot run of form. His team hasn't lost since the first game following the winter break, a 1-0 home defeat to Bologna on Jan. 6, and they've been holding their own—and more—against some of Serie A's best.
On Jan. 9 against Roma, they dominated the majority of the game and should have come away with a better result from the Stadio Olimpico than their 1-1 draw. In the next Serie A game, they were the better team from start to finish and comprehensively beat Fiorentina by the same 2-0 scoreline they lost by in Florence on the season's first night.
Two weeks after that was the crowning achievement of their season: a 3-0 win over Internazionale that was not as dominant as the score suggests but still served as a massive morale boost to a team trying to claw its way into the top five.
That tendency to play top sides tough continued on Monday, when the Rossoneri went to the Stadio San Paolo in Naples looking to avenge the 4-0 thrashing Napoli handed them in October.
They didn't take the win—in fact, they were thoroughly outplayed over the course of the match—but they hung in with a dogged determination. After Lorenzo Insigne's deflected strike broke the deadlock toward the end of the first half, Milan responded immediately. Keisuke Honda's cross met Giacomo Bonaventura at Pepe Reina's far post, and the midfielder slammed home his sixth goal of the season, leveling the score just before the half.
A few key saves by Gianluigi Donnarumma in the second half kept Milan level, and by the final whistle the score was the same. It may not have been a victory, but revenge was still had nonetheless—Milan prevented Napoli from taking advantage of Juventus' Friday slip-up against Bologna and retaking the league lead.
The Rossoneri have certainly come up big when big teams stepped up to them—but their problem has been when they've faced smaller clubs. Teams that a club with Milan's history should be swatting away like so many mosquitoes, such as Atalanta, Bologna and indeed Torino, have brought out their worst matches of the season.
Even when they do beat them it comes hard, as it did in their 3-2 wins over Palermo and Udinese in September.
The first game this season against the Granata was a case in point. Torino overran the midfield early in that match and had the upper hand for most of the game. Carlos Bacca's second-half opener in the sides' meeting in October was very much against the run of play, and Milan's lead only lasted 10 minutes before Daniele Baselli—a 23-year-old player Milan reportedly negotiated for last season, according to agent Giuseppe Riso on Radio Kiss Kiss (h/t Football Italia)—leveled the score.
This Milan have shown they can step up to the likes of the league's best on a pretty consistent basis. What they need to do now is show they can crush the teams they're supposed to crush the way champions do.
They're being presented with a fine chance. Torino have taken a steep fall from grace this season.
Two years ago, they qualified for European competition for the first time in 12 years. And in last year's UEFA Europa League, they became the first Italian team ever to beat Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames, eliminating them from the round of 32 with a 3-2 triumph in the second leg. Giampiero Ventura was still being lauded as one of the best coaches around several months later.
While Ventura's quality is still unquestionable, something has been missing from this team for a while. Even the successful return of Ciro Immoble, who spent the previous 18 months wandering the wilderness after winning the Serie A scoring title in 2013-14, hasn't sparked them into life.
They started brightly, winning four of their first six games, but a shock loss to Serie A newcomers Carpi torpedoed their form, and it took them six weeks to win again thereafter. Morale wasn't helped when they lost October's Derby della Mole at the Juventus Stadium on a goal in the last minute of stoppage time for the second consecutive year.
They've won only twice since December—a stretch that included another embarrassing loss to their city rivals in the Coppa Italia. Speculation has started as to the safety of Ventura's job, prompting team president Urbano Cairo to tell media at a press conference on Monday, per Football Italia, that there was never any doubt over his security.
Toro are unlikely to be sucked into the relegation battle, but after two successful years, it's likely expected that Ventura do better than 11th. He'll look to get back on track here.
Form Lines
| AC Milan | Torino |
| D 1-1 @ Napoli | D 0-0 vs. Carpi |
| W 2-1 vs. Genoa | W 3-1 @ Palermo |
| D 1-1 vs. Udinese | L 2-1 vs. Chievo |
| W 2-0 @ Palermo | D 2-2 @ Sampdoria |
| W 3-0 vs. Inter | D 0-0 vs. Verona |
Projected Lineups
| AC Milan (4-4-2) | Torino (3-5-2) |
| Donnarumma | Padelli |
| Abate Alex Romagnoli Antonelli | Maksimovic Glik Moretti |
| Honda Bertolacci Kucka Bonaventura | Zappacosta Baselli Vives Acquah Peres |
| Bacca Niang | Belotti Immobile |
Unavailable
AC Milan: Diego Lopez (knee), Rodrigo Ely (Foot), Philippe Mexes (undisclosed injury) and Riccardo Montolivo (suspended).
Torino: Cesare Bovo (sprain), Alessandro Gazzi (hamstring), Danilo Avelar (knee) and Marco Benassi (suspended).
Key Players
One casualty of Milan's draw in Naples on Monday was captain Riccardo Montolivo, who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and, consequently, a one-game suspension.
Maligned by some media and fans alike, Montolivo hasn't played all that badly this season, but he hasn't been Andrea Pirlo. Of course, he'll be dogged with that label until his playing days are over, and it's an unfair one, but Montolivo has, for some reason, never seemed to live up to expectations.
Andrea Bertolacci will replace him in this game, and he also has expectations to live up to. He arrived at Milan this season for €20 million, a sum that is frankly absurd for a player of his level. He'll never justify that kind of money because he's not that kind of player. He isn't bad, but he's just not that good.
He has had good moments this season, and given Torino's form, this is as good a time as any to try to get back into a groove. But watcher beware—if he fails on Saturday, the comparisons with Baselli will come thick and fast—especially if Baselli hurts Milan again.
On the other side, all eyes are on Immobile.
Tired of waiting for Juventus to deem him ready of a place in their first team, he moved abroad two summers ago in a deal that gave co-owners Juve and Torino about €8 million each. Unfortunately, his time at Borussia Dortmund coincided with a rebuilding year for the German giants, and he moved to Sevilla last summer, only to be frozen out there.
A return to Torino seems to have lifted his fortunes. He scored on his debut and was man of the match in the club's 3-1 win over Palermo on Feb. 14, scoring a brace. In the last four games, he's registered those two goals along with a pair of assists.
Milan's defense will be strengthened by the return of Andrea Romagnoli from illness, but if they overlook the former capocannoniere, he will punish them.
Key Matchup
It's pretty easy to see what the biggest individual duel of this game will be.
Bacca has almost single-handedly dragged Milan into contention for a top-five spot. He's scored 13 goals this season—more than twice as many as the next man on the list (Bonaventura with six). And he's done it with little service.
According to WhoScored.com, he's averaging only 1.8 shots per game—a comically small number given his ability. But when he does shoot, he makes his efforts count. According to Squawka, he's hit the target with an incredible 70 percent of his shots, and half of the 26 that have found the mark have gone in.
Given how efficient Bacca has been, the imperative is to keep him away from dangerous positions. That's where Toro captain Kamil Glik comes in. The Poland international can be combative—note his penchant for seeing red against Juventus and his eight yellows this year—but he's also immensely skilled.
Given his reputation as a hard man, his ability to read the game can surprise people who aren't paying attention. But he is excellent at identifying passing lanes and then closing them—WhoScored.com clocked him at 2.5 interceptions per match this season.
That ability will be key against a player like Bacca, who makes his living finding the space between defenders and attacking it. If Glik can prevent this, it will force the rest of the team to step up and score—something that hasn't always happened this year. Whichever mans wins this battle will go a long way toward getting his team three points.
Odds (via Odds Shark)
AC Milan win: 5-6
Torino win: 17-5
Draw: 12-5
